Sunday, May 21, 2006

Restrictions are Good

Maybe writes in a comment:

I saw a post saying that "Holy Shock" should be a baseline ability. I actually like this idea. Tanks can use it to pull/get aggro, Healadins can use it like a instant mini LOH, and Ret and PVP pallies can use it for an extra kick in damage. I don't think it's over powered either as it doesn't to a tremendous amount of damage or healing. It's just a versatile spell that all types of Pallies can use.

I agree that Holy Shock as a baseline ability would not be overpowered. However, I do not think it would be a good idea.

Restrictions define us. What we cannot do is as important as what we can do. And one of the fundamental restrictions for a paladin is that we do not have ranged attacks. It's a class-defining restriction.

Restrictions also breed creativity. Paladins need to learn to body-pull, to fight multiple enemies at once, to use Judgement of Justice effectively. I find that paladins are very sensitive to the aggro radius of mobs. Because we cannot pull, we play very differently from the other classes. A profession such as engineering is very valuable to a paladin, as is Linken's quest in Un'goro (to get the Boomerang). More so than to other classes. And this difference is good. It makes playing a paladin a unique experience.

So while a baseline Holy Shock may not be overpowered, I think it would weaken one of the major restrictions on the paladin class, leading to a less creative and unique class.

4 comments:

Well, I guess we have it as an option. A very expensive option. If you can't pull at all, a ranged attack is very valuable, and Blizz demonstrates this by putting it as an 31pt talent.

As to Protection vs Holy, if you see the trees as healing/tanking/damage, then it doesn't make much sense.

If you see the trees as active/reactive/passive, then it makes a lot more sense, as Holy Shock is an active ability that costs a lot of mana. Also, Consecration being in Holy makes a lot more sense using this framework.

So it really depends on what the trees are for. Which I'm not sure anyone really knows. :)

Ok, what did I say...umm...ok...you have a good point but Holy Shock has a 20 yard restriction and has a 30 second cool down so it's not like we would be getting a fantastic ranged ability. After comming within 20 meters of a mob you'd probably aggro anyway! Ranged attackers have 35-40 meter range so even with this abilty I think we would still be pretty restricted in range.

In addition, the current placement of this ability as a 31 Holy talent makes no sense to me. I think this ability is least uesful to a Healadin. Being able to Divine Favor Holy Shock Crit something is as close to a "taunt" as tankadins are gonna get.

Bliz gave us HoW as a ranged execute. Increased our judgements to 10 meters. They may be "poluting" the paladin class with a bit of range, but I think the utility gained by these skills far outweigh any "creativity" gained by not having it. But that's just my opinion.

Hammer of Wrath was for PvP, because Judgement of Justice doesn't work. It doesn't really let you pull.

As for Judgements, I think that was more to clear up some problems with range. I know there were a couple of times when I'd be in melee combat with some mobs, and I'd Judge and get an "out of range" error. Which was very surprising, as I was just hitting the mob. I think the previous limit was a bit *too* restrictive.

Regardless of the quality of Holy Shock, we would use it to pull, and being able to pull is not part of our vision, and so carries a heavy price.

I agree it is more useful to a tanking paladin. But paladin trees are fairly messed up anyways. And at least with new healing component, it makes a kind of sense in Holy. But again, you are assuming that Holy = Healing, which may not be true. After all, Consecration is more useful to a tanking paladin as well.